Jody Wilson-Raybould expected to be acclaimed as candidate in Vancouver Granville

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OTTAWA — When Jody Wilson-Raybould was growing up in Comox she watched proudly in class as her father urged prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, during a nationally televised conference, to include an aboriginal rights section in the 1982 Constitution Act.

On Thursday, Wilson-Raybould, the B.C. regional chief of the Assembly of First Nations and daughter of aboriginal leader Bill Wilson, is expected to be acclaimed as one of Liberal leader Justin Trudeau’s so-called “star” candidates in the new riding of Vancouver Granville.

The riding, created in the recent seat redistribution that gave B.C. six new federal seats, is considered one of a small handful of urban B.C. ridings the Liberals have a chance of taking in the 2015 election.

Several longtime Liberals expressed interest in contesting the nomination, but the party used “moral suasion” — according to one party member — to persuade them to not challenge Trudeau’s choice.

Her candidacy, and the potential to be part of a new government led by Pierre Trudeau’s eldest son during a turning point in Canada’s relations with First Nations, appears to have the ring of destiny.

A landmark Supreme Court of Canada hearing in June emphatically gave meaning to the vaguely worded clause in the 1982 Constitution Act, by granting a B.C. First Nation full title to a large area. Analysts and many politicians, including Wilson-Raybould, have called the decision a “game-changer” that will empower other First Nations as they collaborate with, or oppose, companies trying to create wealth in the natural resource sector.

“This is a very critical period in our history and I’m concerned about the direction we’re heading,” the 43-year-old former Crown prosecutor told The Vancouver Sun in an exclusive interview Wednesday. “I believe there is a genuine need to embrace the new legal reality in this country and ensure there’s an overarching framework that provides the necessary tools to reconcile with all First Nations in this country, and that doesn’t exist right now.”

She chuckled at the suggestion she’s fulfilling destiny linked to her father and her leader’s father.

“Whether it’s destiny, or just the right time and the opportunity to have met Justin, who I think is an amazing leader and an honest and hard-working person, I look forward to the years ahead and I think there’s tremendous opportunity.”

Wilson-Raybould first met Trudeau when he attended an AFN meeting in Whitehorse last year and sat in on a discussion about land claims that Wilson-Raybould chaired. He arranged a private meeting with her and invited her to run. And, signalling his interest in her candidacy, he invited her to co-chair the Liberal convention in Montreal earlier this year.

Trudeau, despite promising an open nomination process to party members used to a top-down approach of some past leaders, has made no secret of his interest in recruiting some heavy hitters. Like former Liberal prime minister Jean Chretien before the 1993 election, Trudeau is anxious to build a team around him that can be used to deflect charges that he doesn’t have the experience or intellectual heft to run the country.

Wilson-Raybould has been groomed to play a leadership role since she was a child.

At age 8, she told Vancouver Sun columnist Daphne Bramham in 2012, her grandmother held a naming potlatch on Gilford Island, naming her Puglaas, or “woman born to noble people.” Puglaas is now Wilson-Raybould’s Twitter handle.

And during the constitutional conferences, Bill Wilson told Pierre Trudeau that either of his daughters could some day become prime minister.

Wilson-Raybould followed in her father’s footsteps by getting a law degree but, unlike Bill Wilson, she practised law, starting out as a Crown prosecutor in Vancouver for three years. She was later convinced to become a member of the B.C. Treaty Commission, which she did for six years, and in 2009 was elected to her current post with the AFN.

Wilson-Raybould, who lives with her husband Tim Raybould on the North Shore but is looking for a home in her riding, said she will remain in her current AFN post until the election campaign begins.

Then she will take a leave of absence and, if she wins the seat, will quit the national body that is currently leaderless due to bitter internal divisions over a federal education reform act.

There have been some internal party grumbling about Trudeau’s commitment to open nominations. Sam Wyatt, who recently resigned from the Vancouver Granville riding association board for personal reasons unrelated to politics, said the party has used “moral suasion” to convince potential Wilson-Raybould challengers to stand aside.

“There’s no question that Jody was the leader’s pick and that he’d like her to win, and I would like to see her win,” Wyatt said.

But it would have been healthier for the riding and party if several candidates were vying for the nomination, selling memberships and bringing new activists into the party, he said.

“It’s unfortunate. Maybe they haven’t got a chance or maybe they feel somebody won’t be happy if they did, but those are decisions that ultimately they’ve made.”

The Vancouver Granville riding includes areas carved out of several existing ridings. One the north, it starts just south of the South False Creek area; it’s bounded by West Boulevard and Arbutus Street on the West, Main Street then Cambie Street on the east and stretches south to the Fraser River.

Vancouver Crown prosecutor Alex Burton and businessman Taleeb Noormohamed both indicated an interest in running, but neither did. Burton, contacted Wednesday, said he’s decided not to enter his name and will support Wilson-Raybould.

“Her resume is impressive and I’m sure she’ll be a great candidate,” he said.

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